


Like Icarus Falling

by SunSketcher



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Not Beta Read, Sad Apollo, Wingfic, first fic oof
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2020-12-27 01:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21110777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunSketcher/pseuds/SunSketcher
Summary: Every god has wings. It’s just a fact of life. Whether they existed from the bleed-in of previous religions, were necessary for the gods who lived far above humans in the mountains and clouds, or were just willed to exist by the fates themselves, wings were always apart of the Greek pantheon. The stories of these winged gods made them seem all the more unreachable to those who worshiped them, and all the more imaginary to those who didn’t. They were a sign of power, control, and divinity.Basically, a ToA wingfic because why the hell not.





	1. As stars fall to the ground

Every god has wings. It’s just a fact of life. Whether they existed from the bleed-in of previous religions, were necessary for the gods who lived far above humans in the mountains and clouds, or were just willed to exist by the fates themselves, wings were always apart of the Greek pantheon. The stories of these winged gods made them seem all the more unreachable to those who worshiped them, and all the more imaginary to those who didn’t. They were a sign of power, control, and divinity.

I remember when I first saw my wings. I was born on Delos fully formed, and behind me were these beautiful golden feathers, shinier than any metal. From that point on, my wings were the most impressive of all the Olympians. Sure, a lot of the older gods had larger wingspans, but mine would glow like the rising sun in the east, and I _ loved _ them. I would flaunt them everywhere I went, holding them high for all to see. This went unappreciated by some, for my wings were bright enough to blind a mere mortal, but I considered it a fair trade off for being able to see my down in full, even if only for a moment.

My sister seemed to disagree. Artemis had wings of the night, with blue, black, and silver painted all over her sharp feathers. Her wings resembled a sparrow, and were very much smaller than mine, which were closer to a kestrel. She always complained about how I was “a huge show off” and “way to egotistical” but I bet if her wings were like mine, she’d be showing them off too! Of course, that isn’t to say the other Olympians didn’t have somewhat interesting wings. Aphrodite’s ever changing plumage was certainly fun to watch, as it shifted in color and feather size while always staying in the shape of doves wings. Hephaestus’ dark, vulture wings always seemed to be covered in ash and soot, and the fact that Dionysus had the wings of a goose was hilarious to me. But no one could outshine my father, with large towering feathers of grey and black that would shake the room whenever he moved them. When my father flapped his wings, thunder would boom across Olympus. It was the most incredible and terrifying thing you could ever see, trust me. Us Olympians weren’t exactly close, but we took care of ourselves. As long as you didn’t break any rules, you wouldn’t be messed with. And I, for one, was not in a hurry to get into any trouble.

That is, until I fell.

I could feel the air rushing past me as I fell from Olympus. My first instinct was to open my wings and fly, but in a panic I realized I couldn’t feel them. Was something wrong with them? Before I could try to figure anything out, I crashed into a dumpster in New York. Yayyyy. 

Dragging myself out of the trash was agony, but I managed. I fell onto the concrete with a dull thud, and tried to push myself off of the ground. However, I overestimated my weight and fell right back onto the hard asphalt. What was that? My body felt too light and too heavy at the same time, and I couldn’t stay balanced. Hesitantly, I turned around to see if anything was wrong with my wings. Had they been broken during the fall? I feared their damage, but what I saw was much worse.

...Oh gods

My wings were _gone!_ My back was as bare as a mortals, my golden feathers nowhere in sight. No matter how severely Zeus had punished me, he had never taken away my wings. They were a sacred part of me, and to strip them from me would be like stripping me of part of my identity. And now they were _gone._ I felt like curling up in a ball and crying, which was very ungodly of me, but I didn’t get the chance to, as I heard the footsteps of people approaching.

“Hey, Cade, look at this loser.”

. . . . . . 

Garbage was flung throughout the alleyway as the two boys ran out of sight. I slowly lifted my injured head and saw my savior. She was small and pudgy, with short, choppy, black hair. But that's not what caught my attention. What was really startling was the two fluffy wings poking out of the young girls back. She was a demigod, that much was certain. Her wings looked like those of a fledgling, all fluffy down instead of long feathers, so I guessed they must’ve just grown in. Demigods inherit wings from their godly parents, but they don’t actually grow them until they are at least 12 years of age. From there, it’s imperative that a demigod is taken to a camp before monsters pick up on their newer, more powerful scent. Since the young girl in front of me, who had brashly introduced herself as Meg McCaffrey, seemed to live in the alleyways, I figured I should probably help her at least start on her way to a camp before finding my master for this mortal punishment.

“Hey, are you listening to me?”

I startled, as Meg was leaning down to look right at my face. I hate to admit that I fell backwards out of surprise, again reminding myself of my mortality and lack of plumage to break my fall. I quickly pushed myself back up, partially to ignore those thoughts and partially to save some shred of my dignity.

“Uh, yes, definitely, what were you saying?” I answered, sounding totally cool and smooth and not at all like a wingless idiot. 

“I said get out of my alley before I steal all your cash!” Meg replied gleefully, already trying to reach down and steal my wallet, which was horribly rude and unnecessary. I was already re-thinking my idea of helping the girl.

“Hey!” I yelled, putting up my hand to block my wallet from her thieving gaze “There’s no need for that! You’re a demigod right? I’m a god! We can talk this out!”

“You’re a god?” She squinted at me in a rather rude way “Then why don’t you look more goddy? And-” She circled around me “Where are your wings? I heard all gods have wings. Does that make me stronger than you?”

“NO!” I cried, springing up to stand and immediately almost falling right back onto my face. I really needed to get used to this new balancing system.

“No,” I repeated, more calmly. “My wings are just… missing right now. If they were here they would surely be better than anything a demigod like you could comprehend.” I hoped my voice sounded strong and confident, but in reality I think it ended up sounding rather desperate. Regardless, Meg seemed unaffected by my outburst, deciding to continue ogling at me instead of heading my words.

“Oh ok, cool, whatever” She replied, and then grabbed grabbed my wallet and ran away faster than I could react.

“HEY!” I yelled again. “GIve that back! I need it!”

“I’ve got your money, I’ve got your money!” She sang, sounding way to pleased with herself.

“Give me that back!” I shouted. “I-I can repay you if you do!”

“Oh reaaaally,” she replied, grinning over at me. “And how’re you gonna do that? I already took all your money.” 

I paused. How was I going to repay her? I doubt she would be patient enough to wait till the end of my punishment. Maybe I could get my new master to give her something, and if they didn’t, well, I'm not responsible for that, am I? Yes, that was a good plan.

“Once I find myself a new master, they can pay you back heartily.” I said in as confident of a voice as I could muster. “All you have to do is help me find them.”

“Hmmmmm” she leaned forward from her perch on a fire escape landing “How do you know who this master person is?”

“Well usually I just find them, and then they claim my service, so-”

“I AM MEG MCCAFFREY AND I CLAIM YOUR SERVICE!”

Thunder boomed overhead. I really walked into that one didn’t I?

“Did that work? are you my servant man now?” Meg asked. I didn’t know how to respond. I could just say _ No, it didn’t work, oh well! _and run as fast as I possibly could, but I didn’t think Zeus would make it that easy.

“Yes, it did” I sighed instead. “I am now in servitude to you till the end of my punishment.” My mind was already filling with the horrible things she could make me do, places she could make me go. _ Places she could make me go? _

“Where are we, exactly?” I asked.

“Hell’s Kitchen.” Meg replied, and I got the distinct feeling she took pride in saying that name instead of just Manhattan.

Wait, Manhattan?

“I need to go meet someone!” of course, that would work perfectly! A strong demigod like him would surely be able to help me-

“Excuse you! You’re my servant now and I didn’t say you could leave!” 

I sighed “Right, _ we _ need to go meet someone.” When Meg continued to look suspicious, I clarified. “He can help us! I swear!” she continued to look skeptical, so I pulled out the last thing I could think of. This always convinced Hermes when I wanted him to do something with me, and Meg reminded me a bit of Hermes. They were both way too annoying for their own good.

“They...should have food?” 

"..."

"Ok."

And with that, Meg jumped down from the fire escape and walked past me to the exit of the alley.

“What’re you waiting for?” she said “Let's go meet this guy!”

Ok, yeah I could work with this. Having Meg as my master certainly wasn’t… ideal, but I was sure I could at least power through it until my father came to his senses and made me a god again. The only thing I would have a problem with was… my wings. I felt the absence of weight on my back like I would feel if I were missing an arm of leg, and even just walking in a straight line felt off without my wings to act as a counterbalance. Functioning without them would be torturous, and I didn’t know if I would be able to do much of anything with this roadblock.

But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. Now, I had to find Percy Jackson.


	2. As snow falls in the winter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meetin Percy, and more wing exposition stuff.

After what seemed like hours, we finally turned onto the Jackson’s street. Or, at least, what I thought was the Jackson’s street. I must admit that my memories of Percy Jackson were a bit fuzzy. Honestly, my memories of everything were a bit fuzzy. Hopefully that would improve soon, it’s a lot easier to exist when you can call up the secrets of the universe whenever you deem necessary.

My new companion raced in front of me. She had been hopping around the streets of Manhattan during our journey, jumping and skipping and doing cartwheels. Her wings seemed to twitch a lot too, like she was trying to fly, but couldn’t quite get off the ground. As she ran, bits of her fluffy down would fall onto the pavement. She must be nearing her molt. Since demigods wings are basically the same as birds, they have to molt multiple times before getting their adult feathers. It made sense that Meg would be experiencing her first molt, as it usually happened closely after the wings grow in. I still hoped this wasn’t the case, however, because down and feathers from molts got _ everywhere _ and were so annoying. I thanked the fates again for never having to go through a molt, as a god’s wings are perfect from the moment their born.

Meg stopped in front of me, and I had to hold my arms out to keep from falling into her. Her wings were raised, and she was staring at the street we had just left behind. I knew that stance rather well. It was the stance Artemis would take before attacking her prey, like a passing deer, an arrogant mortal, or perhaps me after I flirted with one of her hunters. I knew Meg wasn’t going to attack her own servant, but I still took a couple steps back, just in case.

“Ummm, Meg?” I said “What seems to be the problem?”

“I saw something.” She replied, still staring down that street corner.

“Oh,” I responded eloquently “Did it seem like… something bad?”

“I don’t know, it seemed shiny and blobby.”

Thank you Meg, that was very helpful.

Deciding we probably shouldn’t stick around if something blobby was coming our way, I walked towards the buzzer on the apartment building wall. Meg flapped her wings once, then cautiously followed me to the front door. She seemed nervous, though I couldn’t fathom why. We were about to meet a demigod hero who could solve all my problems! Well, I guess she didn’t really know that. 

“Do not fear Meg,” I told her “Percy Jackson is an exceptionally strong demigod. He can help.”

She didn’t seem too convinced, but she nodded once to me, so I considered it a victory. I reached up to ring the doorbell.

“Hello?” I called, “It’s Apollo”

Silence

“The god Apollo?” I tried.

There was a slight buzzing, some shuffling, and then the door in front of us opened. Success! Oh, Percy must be so glad to see me.

. . . . . . 

“Why.”

Do you ever forget how much two things are similar until you seem them again? That is me with Percy Jackson. He looked exactly like his father would, if his father was about 5000 years younger. His wind tousled hair and sea green eyes were a spitting image of Poseidon, but what really got me was the wings. Two large seagull wings sat comfortably on Percy’s back, with long feathers of black and different shades of blue. I remembered how Poseidon would always get flack for his wings. After all, the seagull is not the most fearsome of birds. Specifically, I thought of how Ares would puff up his falcon wings and boast that he was even more fearsome than one of the big three. Then Poseidon challenged him to a long distance flying race, and beat him by fifteen days. Poseidon’s wings had the strength to fly him across the oceans multiple times over, and I had a hunch that Percy’s wings could do much of the same. I shook myself out of my stupor and tried to remember what Percy had said.

“Percy Jackson, I am in need of your assistance!” I said, bowing my head in greeting. 

“Who’s this?” he responded, ignoring me and pointing to Meg at my side. He was asking way too many questions.

“This is Meg, she helped me when I first fell from Olympus.” I gestured to Meg, who seemed to be a bit in awe of Percy’s wings. I wondered if she had ever seen another demigods wings before. Though, even if she had, Percy’s wings were a lot more impressive than an average demigod's. 

“Wait, fell? And why are you so beat up dude? What happened to you?” Percy asked, leaning against the apartments door frame. 

“It’s a long story, but the most important part is that I require help, and you can very easily give it, yes?” Serving a god such as myself should be the perfect job for Percy! However, for some reason, he looked less than thrilled by the idea of serving me. I figured he just didn’t believe himself worthy of helping me.

“You guys should probably come inside.” he sighed, turning into his apartment. It seemed rather small for a Greek demigod of his caliber. I wonder if he ever thought about getting an upgrade. A penthouse apartment in the Bahamas, perhaps? Nonetheless, I followed him into his modest abode.

When we walked through the entryway, I caught sight of a wingless woman standing in what seemed to be the kitchen. My first thought, was _ Yes! A mortal! Mortals always love me! _ And my second thought was _ Holy Hera! What happened to her stomach? _The woman, who looked slightly older in age, possibly around 40, looked about 7 months pregnant. How awful! I remembered the horror stories my mother would tell Artemis and I about her extended pregnancy and labor, and shivered with sympathy. What a poor soul. 

Percy nudged me in the back, and I realized I had just been staring at the woman in horror. Embarrassed, I cleared my throat and held out my hand and tried for a charming smile.

“My name is Apollo, it is a pleasure to meet you!”

Meg popped up in front of me before the woman could take my hand and grinned “My name’s Meg, do you have food?”

The woman smiled at Meg while I tried desperately to escape the feathery fluff that Meg had just smothered me with. “Yes, we do have food here, and my name’s Sally. You two look pretty injured, did you run into anything on your way here?”

I would’ve explained the altercation with the street thugs, but I found the words stuck in my throat. Sally Jackson looked at em with such care and compassion that I found myself momentarily rendered speechless. Usually, when someone looks at me like that, I consider it an immediate confession of love, but I couldn’t see Sally’s concern as anything other than motherly. I was once again reminded of my own mother, and I tore my eyes away from Sally Jackson, unable to look until her caring eyes any longer.

Sally paused, then pulled herself up. “Here, why don’t you go with Percy to clean up, and I’ll find Meg here some new clothes and something to eat.”

“Cool.” Meg said, looking around the room and seeming generally disinterested in the conversation.

“Wait, really?” Percy interjected.

Sally gave Percy a perfectly executed Mom Look™, and I found myself being whisked away for treatment and cleaning.

Percy was a master of weaving his way through the apartment. He expertly shifted and raised his wings to make sure they never ran into anything in the house. This is a common skill in demigods. While a Demigod’s wings are usually covered by the mist, they still exist physically in the mortal realm, and ramming your wings into something unexpectedly can be extremely painful. Because of this, most demigods become experts at taking in their surroundings and dodging any potential obstacles. Which I thought was appropriate, since they did all those things in battle anyway.

We ended up in a small bathroom, where Percy gave me all the supplies necessary to treat myself and then left me alone. For that, I was very grateful. I may be mortal, but I had not lost that much of my dignity. I searched through the first aid kit, found what I needed, and got to work. After I finished cleaning myself up, I went to change into the new clothes Percy brought me. It all fit fine, but after seeing the shirt, I could barely stand putting it on. It had a logo promoting the band Led Zeppelin, which I had nothing against. No, my problem came with the design, which depicted a winged Icarus falling into the sea. Was this really necessary? I was already struggling enough with mortality without it being rubbed in my face. And wearing a shirt with wings on it while mine were still gone? Nevertheless, I decided even this torture was better than going shirtless, and put it on. After leaving the bathroom I found Meg and Percy sitting on the couch, with papers and binders strewn across the coffee table in front of them. Meg was swinging her legs back and forth, sporting new black leggings and a smock of multiple shades of green, with slits in the back to account for her wings. She almost reminded me of… 

No.

I walked forward to see there was also a sort of dip sitting on the coffee table, though it seemed half eaten already. While I was watching, Meg reached down and grabbed a couple more chips, dipping them without any regard for the different flavors or any sort of order. What a barbarian. Percy however, seemed otherwise occupied. He lifted the various papers on the table as if looking for something. 

"Are you looking for a weapon?” I asked “You’ll need one for the trials that await us.”

Percy grimaced, his wings flapping in agitation “Yeah, about that. I can’t help you guys on your quest.”

"What!” I cried. This was insane! Without a strong demigod like Percy on my side, how was I ever going to succeed?

“Sorry man, but I’ve made promises.” Percy replied, “I have to stay and take care of my mom, I and I swore to Annabeth I wouldn’t do anything stupid while she was in Boston.”

I hardly thought helping out a god was _ stupid _, but I guessed there wasn’t much I could do to convince him. Demigods could be annoyingly stubborn. I had no idea where they got it from. 

“Are you sure?” I tried, hoping Percy might have a last minute change of heart, “You could have respect, glory, and incredible fame.”

“Yeah, I think I'll pass.” Percy responded, “I can drive you guys though, which is why I'm searching for my keys, which should be right- oh there they are.” Percy lifted his keys up, and turned to me.

“Plus, it’s not like you're completely alone. You’ve got your new amazing master girl to help you.” Percy said it in a joking tone, and Meg looked up from the couch, where she had been shoveling chips into her mouth.

“Yeah, Apollo and I are co-op-er-at-ing” she said, looking like a winged chipmunk. Percy chuckled, then walked over to where Meg was sitting. 

“Where are you from anyway? Usually demigods are brought to camp before they grow their wings. Has anyone ever tried to take you to camp before?” Meg’s face seemed to shut off, losing her gleeful look immediately. She looked completely emotionless, except for her wings, which had begun to curl around her like some sort of shield.

Percy cleared his throat, “Right, sorry, didn’t mean to pry.” he flapped his wings, likely because of the uncomfortable atmosphere, and turned to leave. 

"We should leave soon. Monsters will find us if we stay in the same place for too long, especially with this many demigods hanging around." Technically, there was only one extra demigod in the house, but I understood the sentiment. Plus, I bet my amazing scent was luring monsters from all over, no matter how mortal my new body was. I remembered the weird blobs Meg had described when entering the apartment and pushed past Percy 's wings towards the door.

"You are right, my friend." I said "The sooner we get to Camp Half-Blood, the sooner this will all be fixed!" 

As we left the building, I found my gaze lingering on the cloudy sky above me. I just couldn't understand it. As far as I could recall, every other time I had been made mortal, my wings had still been there. To have them stripped of me now, was it a sign of something? My father had always been very strict, and he barely ever let someone make the same mistake twice. Maybe he believed me nonredeemable. What if I was stuck like this, wingless and mortal for the rest of my now numbered days? I shook my head like one would shake out their feathers. There was no way! Father would never forsake me in such a way, I just needed to prove myself to him. The glorious Apollo was too wonderful to be kept from immortality, that was for sure. With those thoughts in mind, I joined Meg and Percy in the car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 2! I'm hoping to have a chapter out once a week, and to have each chapter cover 2-3 of the original books chapters. I cut some things out, just because I thought they wouldn't really add to the whole wing plotline. It's weird writing with the book, because I feel like i'm constantly comparing my writing to Rick's, which is obviously superior, oof. Nevertheless, I'm hoping to get into some more canon divergent stuff soon, so look out for that.  
Hope you guys enjoyed!

**Author's Note:**

> Would you believe if I told you I made this spur of the moment after watching Maleficent? Cuz yea, that's what happened. This is my first fic, so please tell me if I'm doing anything horribly wrong! Thx for reading!


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